Check Out Clay Song’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Clay Song.

Hi Clay, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born in the United States to immigrant parents. At the time, they were still establishing themselves to their new home. My father worked long hours and my mother was attending nursing school, so I spent much of my childhood being babysat by the TV. My parents would leave me with some crayons, pencils, and paper, and I would spend my time drawing the characters I saw in movies and cartoons. That led to a lifelong obsession with films and shows. It wasn’t until I started researching colleges in high school that I realized there were programs for animation. I had originally wanted to attend Calarts, but I wasn’t accepted, so I attended USC’s animation program and graduated in 2016. Finding work was hard, and I spend almost a year after graduating cleaning bathrooms to support myself in LA. I got my first break in 2017 as a production assistant and spent the next four years working in production as a coordinator. Even though I excelled in production, I had always wanted to work as a storyboard artist. For some reason or another, I never was able to break into that role. Throughout those years in production, I attended storyboarding classes and pulled many all-nighters working on my portfolio. I got rejected over and over again until 2020 when I got the chance to storyboard for Hulu’s “Pen15” animated special. After that, there was about a whole year of unemployment before I found work again at Titmouse in 2022. So you could say I’m still relatively green in my story art career, but my passion has never been stronger!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. My parents had always wanted me to pursue medicine, business, or computer science, so there were many arguments throughout my childhood about my future. I was also rejected by Calarts, which was a deep blow to me at the time because that was the school I was obsessed about attending. Getting my first job wasn’t easy either, and I slept on couches and cleaned bathrooms to support myself in LA while trying to break into animation. And once I did start to establish myself in production, making the transition to art took 4 years of no’s before I finally got a “yes”.

Fortunately, I have been supported and loved by close friends throughout my career, and I definitely would not be where I am today without them. Some have offered me artistic work when I couldn’t find any, while others even set up a “scholarship” to help me pay for night classes. I am deeply blessed to have them in my life and this is a shout out to them to express my gratitude.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work as a storyboard artist, specializing in action and comedy, but I’d like to think I can tell any kind of story! Since I’m still relatively new and can’t talk about my recent projects due to NDAs, I’d say I’m most proud of the shorts I storyboarded for my portfolio. They are original stories that really showcase my personality, humor, and cinematic sense. Because no one was hiring me, I put a lot of sweat and tears into these shorts to really show the industry what I was capable of. I think what sets me apart from others is my sense of humor. I think my experiences of constant struggle has created this cynical-yet-secretly-still-hopeful underdog mentality that bleeds into the characters I write. I also love background humor, I love to tell mini-stories that play out in the background. It gives whatever project I’m working on a feeling that the world is larger than what’s on the screen. That there are characters beyond the main ones that have stories too.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think my upbeat personality and persistence has helped a lot. My parents tried to dissuade me from pursuing an artistic career for a long time. They believed that finding consistent work would be hard, and the fact that I was an Asian American in an American entertainment industry would make things even harder. To their credit, they weren’t totally wrong, but I think they saw just how passionate and persistent I was, and eventually relented, supporting me through college. My career path definitely hasn’t been easy, and staying optimistic and hopeful has gotten me through some tough times. Everyone finds success in their own time, and some people like me just have to persevere a bit longer. A lot of this industry is just right place right timing, so I think the ability to stay positive and carry forward is super important.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://claysong.art/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clayola_draws/?hl=en